Defendant in Murder Trial Blames Crime on Hitchhiker

A musician went on trial Tuesday in a San Diego Superior Court in the fatal stabbing of a woman who had hitched a ride with him.

The defendant’s attorney told jurors that another man who was with the victim was the real killer.

“I am going to prove to you that Billy Elias is innocent,” defense attorney Kerry Steigerwalt said in his opening statement.

Elias, 37, a North Park jazz musician, is accused of murdering Charlotte Oakley, 29, of the Barona Indian Reservation.

She was found stabbed to death June 25 beside California 94 in Jamul. Motorists told sheriff’s deputies that they had seen the woman struggling with a man in the early morning.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Evan Miller told jurors a blood-stained knife was found under the driver’s seat in Elias’ sports car and that, when Elias was arrested there were bloodstains on his hands and pants.

Steigerwalt told jurors that the woman and her companion, a large man with long hair, were given a ride by Elias when they flagged him down after he had left a nightclub.

When they arrived in Jamul, Elias noticed his gas tank was almost empty, the attorney said. After a quarrel, Elias ordered the hitchhikers out of the car, Steigerwalt said. As they left, Elias saw the woman and her companion fighting, the defense attorney said.

Elias lost sight of the two but then saw the man catch a ride from a passing car, Steigerwalt said.

The attorney said Elias then left his car and found the woman’s body. Steigerwalt explained the bloodstains on his client by saying he pulled the knife from the woman’s body and put it in his car.

Steigerwalt showed jurors an artist’s rendering alleged to be of the man who was with the slain woman.